OK, I am slightly addicted to self-help books, I'll admit. So great is my addiction, in fact, that I have devoted the last 5 years of my life to studying them while writing my doctoral dissertation on the history of self-help literature in Australia.

Here are 7 lessons I learned from the book about nurturing yourself and taking your own needs seriously:

Co-athor Jade-Sky

1. Get out into nature: One of the book's authors, Stacey De Marco, is a modern witch, and as such is part of a tradition that reveres nature and recognises its importance in our spiritual lives. The book advises getting out into nature every day, something I often forget to do. All of us need to spend more time with our bare feet on the ground, and not on cement.

2. Ask the Universe for help: So many of us are hung up on the idea of being rugged individualists, on being totally self-reliant. But sometimes this just isn't good for us. Learn to ask for help in a way that is non-invasive and empowering. Throw your needs out there and let it be known that you could use some help. You'll be surprised.

3. Remember what you loved as a child, and re-introduce some of those things into your life: Do you ever stop to think of the things that enchanted you as a child? Comic books, aimless walks, swimming in freshwater creeks, watching B grade monster movies. All of these things nurtured us and fed our imaginations. Going back to them might just help spark some important part of your memory.

4. Get familiar with mythology: For 80s kids, Clash of the Titans (the original!) was a really big movie, and for me it brought to life the ancient myths of the Greeks. How I loved that film! But as the years have progressed, I have became a little shaky in my memories of Greek mythology. I also want to acquaint myself with Celtic and Nordic mythology, all of which has so much importance in Western literary culture. These stories carry incredible power. Learn them again, and you will begin to see them re-created everywhere.

5. Take small steps toward your dreams: Going all the way is often impossible. But we can always do some small thing to move us towards our goals and dreams. And once you start, these baby steps really start to add up. Pretty soon, you are a long way towards achieving what you wanted. Don't think you have to change your life right now. Just do something small, and repeat again tomorrow.

6. Attend seminars: Hardly anyone does this. Self-help guru Brian Tracy says about 4% of the population ever attempts any kind of self-improvement in adulthood. That just seems unbelievable to me. Why wouldn't you want to learn new things, to stretch your horizons? Be a doer. Sign up for classes, workshops, seminars. Consider systematic study and check out university courses. It is NEVER too late to get an education. Be interested in life and be excited about learning from others.

7. Be prepared for a journey, not an instant enlightenment: Just because you want it doesn't mean you will get it immediately. Almost anything worth having takes work, persistance and patience. So many people give up, just at the point of achievement. Don't be so easily disheartened. Prepare yourself mentally for setbacks, rejections and occasional boring patches. That's life. The key to success is a willingness to get up again the next morning and keep going. You're walking a path, not jumping off a cliff.

Measuring Your Outcomes:

Schedule an encounter with nature once a week for the rest of 2013. Record the impact this has on you, in writing, and note any revelations or ideas that occurred to you while out and about. I'd love you to share these with me in the comments, and maybe come back to me at the end of the year and tell me if you have noticed any positive effects in your life.

Exciting Announcement

In January I will be having an inspirational coversation with Stacey De Marco, one of this book's co-authors, at Ultimo Community Centre (Library) in Sydney.

This event is now booked out, but if you are keen you can still register to go on the waitlist here.

Vietnamese food, especially in Australia is
known for two things, taste and value. I remember, when growing up,
being amazed at how many ingredients go into a typical Vietnamese dish
and how much time it takes to cook a good meal. A bowl of pho involves
cooking beef bones for hours and adding a bewildering number of spices
including coriander seeds, star anise, cumin, fennel seeds, black
peppercorns, garlic – and they are just the spices I recognise. The
depth of richness in the soup also comes from salt, ginger and of course
fish sauce. And more is added to the pho at the table: bean sprouts,
chilli, basil and hoi-sin sauce. Next time you order a $10 bowl of pho,
take a minute to appreciate all the effort.

And it’s the same with a banh mi thit
(Vietnamese pork roll) over 10 ingredients including three types of
meat, pate, mayo, pickles, chilli wrapped in a crusty, crunchy long
roll. While a chicken and avocado sandwich might set you back $8, you
can get a pork roll for as little as $3 and it’s not just in the
Vietnamese hubs like Cabramatta, Marrickville and Bankstown - a very
decent pork roll can be had for $3 in Penrith! Pork rolls are the
un-sung heroes of fast food, perhaps the original subway! Pork roll shops
are spreading all across Sydney - next time you pop off to your local
hot bread shop, check to see if there’s a counter in the corner. A tip,
if I may: avoid it if there’s sliced lettuce anywhere in the vicinity!

Earlier
this year, I undertook a stomach churning search for Sydney’s best pork
roll – a crazy chomping frenzy stretching from Hurstville to Penrith and
in between. At the end of the six weeks, I announced the winner of Sydney’s best pork roll.

Since
that time, it seems like more and more pork roll places have popped
up. One of the more recent is an all-out assault on Sydney’s CBD, with
the Pork Roll shop in Sydney’s George Street diagonally across from
World Square. A tiny frontage that is just enough for two pork roll
making counters, early on it was only an amazing $3.50 for a pork, roll but within
months that had gone up to $3.95 – which is still pretty amazing value.

Noodlies
finally got the chance to give it a test drive and I’m very, very
pleasantly surprised. It’s the best Vietnamese pork roll I’ve had in
the city; crispy roll with an lovely ‘just right’ colour – not under
cooked or over-cooked, all the ingredients are there, all pretty
authentic – no skipping corners, there’s even pickled carrots, spring
onions and sliced chilli – two types of condiments too, soy and salt and
pepper. A few minor, and they're very, very minor observations: firstly, it
could have done with a tad more pate and mayo which would have made it
more creamy, the meat had a slightly strong five spice after-taste (fine
for me, but may not be to everyone’s taste) and finally the soy sauce
was a little light. But please, readers, these are very minor issues in
an otherwise excellent pork roll that’s under $4k. Oh, +1000 likes for
the crunchy roll!

If
you want to read more about Vietnamese pork rolls get the current
edition of SBS Feast Magazine for my full page ‘break-down’.

Details:

Pork roll (that’s the only name on the shop)

627 George St, Sydney

Thang ngo is the publisher of Noodlies, Australia’s number one video food blog.

My home is filled with religious kitsch that could easily furnish several
temples and a couple of churches. And that's across all sects and
denominations. Once, when I took my brother-in-law to visit a Buddhist monk
living in a small suburban cottage that had been turned into a temple, he said,
"This guy's a lightweight when it comes to statues. Your house looks more
like a temple."

While some criticise me for filling my house with devotional tat, I like to
think I am curating one of Australia's foremost collections of popular
religious art. So you can imagine that one of my favourite programs on
television was ABC's constantly fascinating The Collectors. Each week it
showcased hoarders and accumulators after my own heart, people who collected
irons and vintage handbags, plastic bangles and condiment packets. My
pleasure in the series only escalated when they appointed the single most
fabulous woman ever to appear on Australian television: the extraordinarily
beautiful and stylish Claudia Chan Shaw.

Claudia Chan Shaw

Then my viewing became obsessive, and
I was panting every week to see what the utterly chic Claudia would be wearing
as she trawled through sheds full of penny farthings and attics hung thick with
70s wallpaper samples.

Imagine my pleasure when I discovered that Claudia has just published her
own book, a fascinating overview of the world of collecting: who's doing it,
what they're collecting and where they get it. Collectomania is not just a
beautiful and fascinating book. With Claudia's eye for detail you just know the
photography and layout is going to be extra special. It is also beautifully
written, filled with anecdotes and the compulsive stories of the constantly-peculiar
fraternity of world-wide collectors. There is also the occasional and
tantalising peek into Claudia's own collections, particularly her obsession
with robots.

Collectomania is a book that will liberate all the bower birds living
amongst us, and it is actually a terrific read, making even the most obscure
collecting impulses come alive with stories, information and fascinating
trivia. I was drawn in to her discussion of Bakelite and the several forms of
early plastic that so liberated the fashion world when they were first made
available. Who knew that plastics could be so fascinating?

Claudia charts the history of collection, reminding us of the Wunderkammer,
the cabinets of curiosities collected by noblemen in an infinitely more
charming age. As she points out, many of us have our own secret little
Wunderkammer, boxes hidden away filled with strange souvenirs of our life,
particularly our youth. Mine actually sits right on my desk, a hand-made wooden
box that my computer monitor rests on. It hasn't been opened in years, but I
know exactly what's in it: a couple of pieces of vintage Comme des Garcons that
will never fit me again, some great jewellery pieces I wore in my dance party
days, some notes and letters, a pair of fishnet stockings (don't ask) and a
card deck I was given on my eighteenth birthday called "52 Handsome
Nudes." Among other things.

Collectomania will bring back wonderful memories of items that loomed large
in your childhood, and it will also inspire you to start taking seriously your own
collections. It's a tremendous read, from cover to cover, and makes a gorgeous
Christmas present, with its rich photographs.

Sing and pray for the earth!
Participate in this gorgeous, global event at Pitt Street Uniting Church, Sydney, this Sunday, 18 November 2012. 3pm start. All welcome.

The Good Earth Singers is an organization dedicated to building community through song. Its latest global campaign is One Earth. One Voice.
The campaign, led by classical singer Shyla Nelson, will rally 15
million people worldwide to learn and sing a Nigerian song, “Ise Oluwa,”
for an unprecedented global event on 21 December 2012 to celebrate and
heal the earth.
Meet Shyla and learn about her extraordinary, courageous journey when
she joins Rev. Dr. Stephanie Dowrick’s special interfaith service at 3 p.m. on Sunday, 18 November in the Pitt Street Uniting Church, 264 Pitt Street, Sydney,
with representatives of many of Sydney’s leading community choirs. At
the end of the service, concluding with Shyla’s testimony and community
singing, Shyla and the congregation will walk to the Royal Botanic
Gardens to sing “Ise Oluwa,” ahead of the global moment of song on 21
December 2012.
Sydney is just one stop on Shyla’s 99-day journey. Through her travels, she has generated support of One Earth. One Voice in more than 35 countries, and among world-renowned musicians, scientists, environmentalists and world leaders. “One Earth. One Voice
is an accumulation of hard work and a genuine belief that the power of
the human voice is a catalyst for healing humanity’s relationship with
the earth,” Shyla Nelson says. “The unifying power of song will be a
rallying call to action in response to crises and violence across the
globe that threatens our lives.”

The Sydney event at Pitt Street Uniting Church, with Shyla
Nelson, hosted by Dr Stephanie Dowrick and Elizabeth Lecoanet, Director
of Sydney Sings, is open to all.
The December event will be broadcast online at oneearth-onevoice.org. To follow Nelson’s journey visit the One Earth. One Voice. website at oneearth-onevoice.org and The Global Earth Singers Facebook page.

About Shyla Nelson
Shyla Nelson is an internationally-renowned classical singer and
voice trainer. She founded The Good Earth Singers in 2009 to empower
communities and take positive action to improve the local and global
environment. As a solo artist, Nelson has been acclaimed as a soprano of
“consummate artistry and vocal grace” whose concert and operatic
appearances have delighted audiences throughout the U.S. and abroad. She
has also collaborated with multiple Grammy Award-winning musicians Paul
Winter Consort.About The Good Earth Singers
The Good Earth Singers is an organization dedicated to building local
community through song. Its mission is to develop and support the
songful celebration of our common humanity and our deep, devotional
connection to the earth. GES helps anyone, regardless of experience and
background, learn how to offer his or her voice in service and
celebration of this loving earth on which we live. To learn more and
join the global One Earth. One Voice. choir, visit www.oneearth-onevoice.org.
Anyone can add their voice to the global event and learn the Nigerian
song, “Ise Oluwa” on Dec. 21, 2012 by downloading the free smartphone
app, “Sing!”.

For too long Western Sydney, a vast and diverse swathe of urban culture, has been absent from Australian literature. On Western Sydney is a collection of poetry, stories and observations that reflect life in this most fascinating and exciting part of the city. The young voices represented in this amazing collection are the true representatives of an urban space that is demonised by the mainstream media and more or less ignored by the cultural elites.

"On Western Sydney is about the real Western Sydney, the people, the places and the experiences.

There is an extraordinary depth and diversity represented in this book, and I think it represents an important moment in Australian - and particularly Sydney - literary culture. For a long time I have been waiting for the rest of the country to wake up to the fact that it is in Western Sydney that the real stories are happening, and where the real art is being created. On Western Sydney might just represent one of the first, and best expressed, steps toward that awakening.

I love the collections challenge and its variety. It incorporates the work of some well established and celebrated writers like Felicity Castagna, Fiona Wright and Pip Smith along with a score of other, newer voices. All are grappling with themes that are not rigidly regional. Even if the vocabulary belongs to a particular place or moment, the themes are universal and almost always compelling.

WIN! A copy of On Western Sydney.

See if you respond to the "Westie" voices and are stimulated by the diversity of styles and themes in this remarkable collection.

To enter:

- Sign up for my monthly enewsletter
- Send me an @ mention on Twitter and tell me what you think of Western Sydney

Entries close Wednesday 21 November, 5pm. Australian
residents only. Judge’s decision is final. Winner will be
notified via email by Thursday 22 November, noon and must respond with a
delivery address by Thursday 29 November, 5pm.

My intrepid other-half, the wonderful Mr. Noodlies himself, Thang Ngo, has a one-page feature in the latest edition of SBS Feast magazine. It has just hit the streets - it's the one with the delicious Italian Berry Crostata on the cover (man, I have to try that).

Thang pulls apart the banh mi (or pork roll or Vietnamese sandwich) and lets readers in on the essential elements of this iconic Vietnamese snack.

So grab a copy of the mag and learn at the feet of the master. He eats a LOT of banh mi.

The book, Suited, is the second in her speculative fiction The Veiled Worlds series, and it looks like so much fun. I can't wait to get started and to lose myself in those worlds - I bought the first book, Debris, as well, so I know I am going to get hooked.

Jo Anderton, author of Debris and the brand new Suited.

Suited was launched by Aurealis award-winning author Pamela Freeman, who reminded us that she had competed against Jo's first book, Debris, for that same award. Pamela described Suited as balancing on the knife edge of science-fiction and fantasy, and she praised Jo's willingness to "do really bad things to her characters."

Suited is the second installment in a planned trilogy, so get going now!